Many a devotee of the fine art of golfing has searched for years for the perfect golf club or set of golf clubs, the one which will radically enhance golf scores and catapult the player into tournament play. Such a club would adapt to the changing conditions of the golf course and the golfer's varying preferences in the "feel" and "handling" of the golf club to allow a perfect stroke every time. Unfortunately, despite years of research and development, no golfer or golf equipment company has yet been able to develop this "magic" club. Nevertheless, the prior art does reveal some advances in club design, specifically in designs which modify the golf club's swing weight, which have helped to enhance many a golfer's score. The swing weight of a golf club, a measurement of the golf club's "feel" as it is swung, is one of its most important performance characteristics.
The prior art contains examples of golf clubs and additions to golf clubs specifically directed towards altering the golf club's swing weight. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,228,688 to Davis discloses a set of golf clubs having a matching swing weight. The golf clubs include counterweights secured near their handles with the weights specifically chosen so that the same swing weight is obtained for all clubs. Each golf club within the set also has a uniquely angled head and a grip which is meant to be grasped only at a certain area. The head angles and grip points of all clubs are such that their height is the same for any swing. With the swing weight, club height, and club head modified as shown by Davis, all clubs within the set have both a uniform "feel" and a uniform look as they are swung.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,072 to Pettinelli et al. is directed to a counterweight or multiple counterweights attached to the handle of a golf club by means of a member having two legs attached together so that the member has a "J" shape. The leg of the member that is not affixed to the handle is threaded and bears one or more counterweights, which may be positioned at different areas along the leg by adjusting them along the threads. The angle of this leg may be adjusted by the use of a pivot located at the junction between the legs. The counterweight thus serves to shift the weight distribution of the club towards the handle and away from the club head, and more importantly, towards the golfer. The counterweight is positioned so that the golfer's hands serve as the fulcrum point of the club's weight distribution. Thus, while the club is made heavier overall by the addition of the counterweights, the club head itself feels "weightless", allowing a steadier and more precise stroke.
While the club modifications of Davis and Pettinelli, et al. modify the swing weight of a golf club, they tend to have drawbacks.
First, clubs such as those of Davis can generally only be obtained by buying an entirely new set of clubs, since retrofitting the invention of Davis into an existing set of clubs is a daunting task.
Second, the golf clubs and modifications of Davis and Pettinelli et al. may not be allowable in tournament play, since tournament regulations generally disallow golf clubs having permanently attached modifications.
Third, the inventions of Davis and Pettinelli et al. respectively have the goals of achieving a fixed and uniform swing weight for all clubs within a set, and achieving a club with an extremely low or practically nonexistent swing weight. On the other hand, it is believed that golfing scores are more rapidly and greatly improved not by fixing, reducing, or making uniform the swing weight of a golf club, but rather by selectively altering the swing weight of the golf club to better match the conditions of the course and the preferences of the user. Further, it is believed that better results in swing weight modification can be achieved by altering the weight of the golf club's shaft near the head, rather than the handle.